Even better than Chocolate Cake
by mycookiegirl
Summary: After getting suspended from school, Ponyboy gets into an argument with his brothers. Words can hurt, and Ponyboy's words hurt Darry and Sodapop so much that they begin to ignore their little brother. Will the brothers ever be close again? Will Darry and Soda be able to forgive their brother?
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

It was Monday, and as always, everybody was tired in school. Tired kids meant grouchy kids, and grouchy kids resulted in fights. Usually between greasers and socs; the rest just stayed out of their way.

Ponyboy hated fighting with socs; he didn't like to hurt people, and Darry would ground him. Well, that was if Ponyboy himself had picked the fight, but Darry was always grouchy on Mondays too, so if Pony got attacked, Darry would probably blame him.

But Ponyboy just had to get involved when a few certain socs were picking on his best friend: Johnny Cade.

Two-Bit and Steve had detention (as usual), so the only fellow greaser who could help Johnny was Ponyboy. The thirteen-year-old greaser knew that Darry would much rather have him save Johnny and get into trouble than just let Johnny take the beating. Or so he thought.

"Hey, why don't you leave him alone?!" Pony called, stomping up to the curly-haired soc. As always, the soc laughed at Pony for his small height and underdeveloped body; everybody thought he was childish when trying to be threatening.

"And why would I do that, greaser?" the soc taunted, twisting Johnny's right arm behind his back. Johnny winced and tried to stop the tears from spilling down his flushed cheeks.

Ponyboy was beginning to get angry now – how dare anybody treat his best friend that way? Didn't Johnny already suffer enough?

"I mean it, _soc_ , if you don't let him go…I'll-I'll _kill_ you!" Pony shouted, attempting to size up to his opponent but failing.

The soc laughed even louder and pushed Johnny towards a row of lockers, and then turned his attention to Ponyboy. He leaned down, so only the auburn youth could hear him.

"If you think you can take me, bring it," he whispered, leaning back so he was standing at his original height.

"Oh leave them alone; they're just kids!" a girl shouted. By now, Ponyboy and the soc had an audience, who were eager to see the outcome of the quarrel. Some were chanting 'fight' while others were begging for them to stop and just leave it.

The soc folded his arms and stared down at Ponyboy, who was glaring up at him. The boy was scared, but he wasn't about to back down now; everybody would think he was a wimp!

Bending down again, the soc whispered to Ponyboy:

"I bet if I put you in your place, everyone will be happy, including your greaser-friends. And even if you do win the fight, who's gonna be proud of you? Your dead parents?" he asked.

Ponyboy felt his blood boil, and his breathing got faster. But he didn't attack the soc; he was going to keep his cool.

"What about your brother, ya know – the stupid pretty boy?" the soc continued, smirking at the color Ponyboy's face was turning. "What about your other brother – the deadbeat?"

This was all too much for Ponyboy. The boy jumped on the soc, sending both of them flying to the floor. Gasps were heard from all of the students who were watching, but that quickly turned into shouts and chants.

Nobody, including the soc or Ponyboy himself, expected the young greaser to go so wild. He was like a lion pouncing on a deer; he was out of control.

The students started walking away when loud footsteps started approaching the scene. The soc tried to warn Ponyboy; not because he didn't want Ponyboy to get in trouble, but because he didn't want to be blamed for what had happened.

The principal, Mr Ryans, cleared his throat to get both boys' attention. Ponyboy acted like he couldn't hear the principal, and continued to attack the soc.

"He won't get off me!" the soc yelled, striving to push his attacker off him. Ponyboy however, was ruthless.

"Mr Curtis, if you do not stop fighting, then I will have to remove you by _force_ ," Mr Ryans threatened, tapping his foot impatiently.

After a few moments, Ponyboy's struggles got weaker until he stopped fighting with the soc altogether. He was pushed off the soc onto the ground, but he couldn't be bothered picking himself up.

"Go get Mathews," Mr Ryans said to Miss Hunter, the school secretary. She left, passing Johnny Cade who was still standing at the row of lockers that he had been pushed into.

Mr Ryans turned around and saw the boy, and then beckoned him over to where he was standing.

"I suppose Greg stared the fight?" he questioned, looking straight into Johnny's black eyes. Johnny nodded; ignoring the glare he was getting from Greg, the soc. Greg the soc? The name amused Johnny.

Ponyboy continued to lie on the ground; he didn't want to get up now because he knew he'd be taken to the principal's office and then Miss Hunter would phone Darry who would not be happy.

A few minutes passed, and Miss Hunter returned with Two-Bit Mathews at her side.

"You're one of Curtis's good friends; tell him to get up," Mr Ryans ordered, crossing his arms.

Two-Bit stared at Pony helplessly – he got pulled out of class to comfort his friend?

"Hey Pony, come on, get up," he tried, getting down on his knees and shaking his little friend's shoulders. Pony flinched and stayed on the ground, pushing Two-Bit's arm away.

Johnny looked at Mr Ryans, who gave him a look which said: 'Why don't you try?' making the tanned greaser sigh. He got down on the other side of Pony and then lay down to whisper to him.

"Hey Pony, please get up. I'll tell Darry that it wasn't your fault, okay?" he pleaded, looking at the side of his friend's head desperately, as if Ponyboy could see him.

Pony exhaled heavily, taking in what Johnny had said. When Darry was mad, it was almost impossible to change his mind, but then again this was Johnny he would be dealing with, and everybody listened to Johnny.

The boy took his friend's advice and stood up, following his principal who had beckoned him to follow. Greg was walking alongside Ponyboy, and the two glared at each other the entire way to the office. Johnny decided to join them so he could be ready when Darry arrived at the school to tell him what had happened.

The youngest greaser, Ponyboy, chewed on his fingernails in the school office. What if Darry was really angry? Like, what if he never forgave Pony? Though these thoughts rushed through his head each time Ponyboy was in trouble, he felt like Darry would be _really_ mad this time.

Two double-doors were pushed open, and in walked Darrel and Sodapop Curtis. Ponyboy gasped; how could he have forgotten that it was Sodapop's day off today?

Darry went to the desk were the secretary was seated at while Sodapop sat next to his little brother. There was an unknown expression on Sodapop's face; it was an angry expression, and Sodapop was never angry.

"Darry's real mad at you," he scowled, turning to look at Ponyboy. Ponyboy turned his gaze away from his big brother, trying to stop the tears from falling from his greenish-gray eyes; now Sodapop was mad at him?

Ponyboy squirmed when Darry walked over to him and Soda. The man bent down to his youngest brother's level, turning Pony's head up to look at him.

"What do you think you were doing, young man?" he scolded, raising his eyebrows. Pony shrugged, looking over at Johnny for help. Johnny, sensing his friends fear, stood up and sat down next to Sodapop.

"It wasn't Pony's fault; that soc over there was picking on me, and Pony helped me," he breathed, smiling at Pony.

"Yes, thank you, Johnny," Sodapop snapped, making Johnny pull back.

Ponyboy looked up at his other brother with anger; why was Sodapop so angry?

"Don't snap at Johnny like that; he ain't lyin'," Pony defended, but all's he got was a glare from both of his brothers.

"Come on, we're leaving," Darry announced, grabbing Pony and pulling him outside.

Sodapop looked at Johnny and his gaze softened; he hadn't meant to act so angry towards his friend.

"Sorry about that Johnny; I was just angry," he apologized, his brown eyes begging for forgiveness. Luckily, Johnny Cade wasn't the type of person who held a grudge, so he nodded and smiled.

"It's okay, Soda. But please don't be too mad at Pony; it really wasn't his fault," Johnny begged.

Sodapop sighed; he wanted to believe Johnny, but since Johnny and Pony were so close he had a feeling that they would lie for each other if either of them were in trouble. Also, Soda decided that he wanted to start being firmer with his little brother; since he felt that he let Ponyboy get away with too much.

The two said goodbye: Johnny went to his English class while Sodapop returned to Darry's truck. Ponyboy was in the back sulking, so Soda got in the passenger seat to avoid any angry glares or teary stares from his baby brother.

Once Darry pulled into the driveway of their house, Ponyboy bolted out of the car. He slammed the front door and rushed into his and Soda's bedroom, locking the door; he didn't want his big brothers to be angry with him.

Unfortunately, Sodapop knew where the spare key was kept, so the door was opened and Ponyboy literally had nowhere else to run. He tried to run out of their bedroom and out to the streets, but Darry caught up and lifted him up.

"Where do you think you're goin', little brother?" he mocked, carrying Pony over to the sofa and sitting him down on it. "You ain't goin' nowhere until you tell us exactly what happened."

"Johnny told you! That soc was picking on him, so I let my temper get the best of me and I hit him," he explained, leaving out the part where Greg called Sodapop a 'stupid pretty boy' and where he called Darry a deadbeat.

"Sounds to me like you're just looking for trouble," Darry frowned, narrowing his eyes at his little brother.

"Well I ain't," Pony spat, feeling tears of frustration threatening to spill; why wouldn't Darry ever listen to him? He took back what he thought about Johnny; obviously none of his brothers listen to the tanned greaser.

" _Don't_ get snippy," Sodapop warned.

Ponyboy wanted to scream; Sodapop was supposed to understand! Why wasn't he on Pony's side?

"You know, one day the state will take you away, and you'll regret all those times you got into stupid fights. I try and I try to make you a better person, and you just throw it back at me!"

"Well it ain't like you're perfect either, Darry!" Pony cried, rubbing his eyes.

"Darry does everything for us, and this is what you give him in return? You're real selfish, Ponyboy, you know that?" Sodapop added, glaring at his little brother.

The brothers didn't really feel this way; they were just annoyed. Darry had been sent home from work, and Sodapop's day off was basically ruined, so the two were grumpy, but Ponyboy didn't know this.

"Look I'm sorry, okay? Next time Johnny's getting beat up, I'll just leave him to get beaten to death, and if you dare say anything, then I'll blame both of you!" Pony shouted, shaking his head.

"Maybe I should just let you get put in a boys' home; then you can get into as many fights as you like, and Soda won't get taken away from me," Darry hollered.

This struck something deep within Ponyboy. _Soda won't get taken away from me_. Did Darry only care about Soda? This angered Ponyboy a lot now, and he couldn't stop himself from yelling his next words:

"Well you know what?! Maybe you should just let me be put in a boys' home! You two won't care as long as you're with each other; all's I do is just get in the way. And why would I want to live with you anyway; a stupid high school dropout and a deadbeat guardian? I'd rather be dead!"

The next few minutes were filled with nothing but silence. Darry had winced after his little brother had called him a deadbeat and Soda felt like crying when he had been called a stupid high school dropout. The kids were right; if his little brother was saying it, then everyone must have known he was dumb.

"Guys…" Pony let his words fade.

Another few minutes passed, and Soda almost started crying so Darry rubbed his back for comfort. Pony decided to say something again but Darry wouldn't let him.

"Don't talk to us anymore; no brother of ours will speak to us like that," Darry stated, and Pony felt like crying.

"Please; I'm really sorry," he croaked, but Darry shook his head.

"Can you hear something, Soda?" he asked, looking into Soda's eyes. Sodapop shook his head.

"Nah, and if there is something there, I bet it's nothing important," Sodapop said, and the two got up and walked off.

Ponyboy was left in the living room feeling…alone.

 **XXX**

"Go back to your own room," Sodapop ordered when Pony tried to climb in next to him.

"But this is my-" the boy started, only to be cut off by his brother.

"No, this is your _old_ room. Go back to _your_ one," he yelled, pushing Pony out of the bed.

Pony fell onto the floor and whimpered, but Sodapop turned away.

"Stop bothering your brother, Ponyboy," Darry warned, standing by the door.

"He ain't my brother," Sodapop snapped, turning over.

The youngest Curtis got up and let out a small cry before walking to his old room. He hated his old room; it was dark, cold and lonely – just like his dreams.

He had trouble falling asleep that night; he didn't have Soda's arm to chase away the nightmares and images that flashed through his mind.

 _Ponyboy looked up, only to see that he was in an unfamiliar place. This place scared him; it looked a lot like the cemetery where his parents had been buried, only this time it as dark and gloomy._

 _Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of gold. His mother's hair was gold…_

 _The boy smiled and turned around, only to be greeted with a horrifying sight. His mother was there, but only the very ends of her hair were shining gold; the rest was either dark or red; the darkness of her hair was due to the mud that she had fallen in, and the red was due to the blood that was rushing from a cut on her scalp._

 _Her husband, Darrel, was next to her. His brown hair was also covered in blood, and a large piece of glass was sticking out of his temple. Various pieces of glass were sticking out of various parts of his body; the damage was from the windscreen of Darrel's car which had crashed into a grave._

" _Remember son, safe driving!" Darrel laughed as blood poured from his mouth and onto his black suit._

" _Do not talk to that boy; he isn't our son," Shannon, Ponyboy's mother, ordered._

 _Ponyboy was confused; why was his mom saying that he wasn't her son?_

" _Mom, I am your son. I'm Ponyboy!" the boy shouted, but she shook her head._

" _Nope; Darry's a deadbeat, Soda's a stupid high school dropout, and your father and I are dead. You were very mean to your brothers, so we don't want you as our son. Besides, Sodapop said that you're not his brother anymore, and Darry thinks the same," Shannon spat, and then she disappeared into the car which was crashed into the grave._

 _Darrel looked at his son and gave him a bloody smile. Ponyboy winced at the blood dripping from his father's teeth and the blood that gushed from his red tongue._

" _I still love you, son. Come and give daddy a hug," he grinned, walking towards his son._

 _Ponyboy gasped and cried before running away, but he didn't get far before he felt a hand drop on his shoulder. When he looked up, his dad was grinning down at him._

" _My boy…" Darrel slurred, lifting Pony into his arms._

 _Ponyboy screamed._

Gasping for air, the youngest Curtis woke up. He exhaled heavily when he realized that it was just a nightmare. A horrible, horrible nightmare.

He sniffled when he realized that Sodapop wasn't next to him; usually if Pony had a nightmare then Sodapop would hold him and assure him that everything was okay. But now Sodapop hated him, and he would probably never speak to Pony again. After all, he had said that Pony wasn't his brother anymore.

But seeing his parents in that state scared Pony beyond anything; they looked so real, and his mother had said that she hated him. Darrel wanted to give Pony a hug, but Pony was scared of him; Darrel was dead.

Ponyboy whimpered; he could at least try to get his brothers' attention. He heard a sigh from Darry's room, and a groan from Soda's, and then he heard floorboards creaking. His brothers were awake, so they would come to him, wouldn't they?

"Sodapop! Darry!" the little boy called, drawing his knees to his chest.

Ponyboy was wrong; Sodapop and Darry never came for him.

 **AN: I hope you enjoyed this so far! This is probably going to be a three-shot, since I came up with the idea but didn't want to make it too long. Please tell me what you thought :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

When Ponyboy looked at the clock in his bedroom, he saw that it was 7:30 am. The boy gasped; he'd be late for sure.

Not having time to shower, the youngest Curtis pulled on his clothes that were on the floor. He wanted to have breakfast; all of the crying he had done the night before had exhausted him and now he felt extremely hungry.

Darry and Sodapop were sitting at the dining table: Darry drinking coffee and Soda drinking chocolate milk. This made Pony feel sad; his brothers usually tickled him awake, but now they were acting like they hated him, which they probably did.

The boy went to the refrigerator and started searching for chocolate cake, but he couldn't find any.

"There's none left," Darry said without turning around to look at his little brother.

This made Pony feel worse; Darry and Soda _always_ saved him the last slice of chocolate cake, even if one of them hadn't eaten yet. It was a tradition, but now they didn't seem to want to follow it.

Ponyboy sighed and picked up the box of cereal which had been set on the counter. He had roughly ten minutes before Two-Bit would come to pick him up; Pony liked to leave ten minutes early because then he felt relaxed knowing that he wouldn't be late.

Sodapop scooted his chair away when his little brother tried to sit next to him. As far as the blond was concerned, Ponyboy wasn't even in the room.

"Guys, please forgive me; I made a mistake and I'm real sorry. I was just angry like you two were," Pony begged, positioning the cereal in-front of himself.

His brothers didn't respond; Darry picked up his newspaper and started reading it while Soda continued to the chocolate milk. Pony sighed; he knew there was no point in trying to earn his brothers' forgiveness since they clearly wanted nothing to do with him.

A horn was heard from outside, alerting Ponyboy that Two-Bit was ready to leave. The young greaser once again tried to talk to his brothers, but they acted like they couldn't hear him.

Two-Bit opened the passenger door for his younger friend, but felt concerned when he saw how miserable he looked.

"What's up, Pony?" the rusty-haired teen asked, starting the engine. He began driving down the road, but the worry just grew bigger when Pony didn't respond. "Pony?"

"I made Darry and Soda real mad, Two-Bit," the auburn whimpered, slouching down in the seat.

Keith Mathews was inexperienced with comforting people; the last time he'd comforted anyone was when Johnny had been beat up by a gang of socs, when the tanned greaser was hysterical. Ponyboy looked nowhere near hysterical, but the eighteen-year-old greaser knew that his little friend was hurting.

"What'd ya do?" the teenager inquired, looking at Pony when he stopped at a stop sign.

"Well, I got in a fight at school for defending Johnny from this soc. The soc said a few things that got on my last nerve, and well…I guess I just went crazy," the boy explained, fidgeting with his thumbs. Two-Bit nodded and started to drive again. "Anyway, Mr Ryans got Ms Hunter to call Darry, and he wasn't happy when he came to pick me up."

"So that's why you're upset? He yell at you or somethin'? Two-Bit guessed, but Pony shook his head.

"Soda was there too, and he wasn't happy with me either. When we got home, Darry started on me, but then Soda joined in too." Two-Bit frowned; Soda usually defended Pony – he didn't go against him. "And I-I, well I got mad and I called Soda a stupid high school dropout and I called Darry a deadbeat," the boy said softly.

Two-Bit's car screeched as he stopped in-front of the school.

"You what?!" the teen yelled, causing Pony to pull away slightly.

"I know, it was stupid," Ponyboy sniffled, but Two-Bit shook his head.

"Yeah it was stupid! Why would you say that? They've done so much for you, and you go and call them names like that?!"

"I didn't mean it; I was just angry," Ponyboy cried, not liking that his friend was now against him.

"That don't give you the right to call 'em names like that! Darry's right; you really don't use your head," Two-Bit commented, pushing back in his seat.

"So my brothers are ignoring me, and now you hate me too? I really didn't mean it!" Ponyboy wailed, hiding his face in his hands.

The rusty-haired greaser felt all of the anger drain from him. Darry and Sodapop were ignoring Ponyboy?

"They're ignoring you?" Two-Bit questioned gently, sitting up in his seat.

Ponyboy nodded into his hands. Two-Bit was about to say something else, but Ponyboy picked up his backpack and opened the door.

"I just want a friend," the boy whispered before getting out.

"Pony wait; I'm sorry," Two-Bit called, but Pony just carried on walking.

The eighteen-year-old greaser sat in his seat for a moment, thinking about his actions. Why had he been so quick to judge? He just assumed that Darry and Soda had yelled at him. The thought hadn't come into his head that they would ignore his little brother. All's he wanted was a friend – and Two-bit had just pushed him away.

All day, socs tormented the young greaser, begging for a fight with him. Ponyboy had yelled back at all of them, but the warning glances from his teachers showed him that they didn't trust him.

He had to go all day without a friend; Johnny's dad had hurt him real good, so he was forced to stay home from school to hide the bruises But it wasn't as if the teachers cared; Johnny Cade barely got a second glance from anybody.

Curly talked to Pony for a little bit, but when the hood's current girlfriend came stomping over to him, Pony knew it would be best to leave the two in private; the girl looked angry, and Curly looked angry too.

It was out of the question to attempt to talk to Steve; Sodapop had probably already told the greaser over the phone what Ponyboy had said to him, and Steve was bound to be mad. The teenager kept glaring daggers at Ponyboy, so the auburn knew that his theory was likely correct.

Soon enough, school was over. Ponyboy walked home since he didn't want to wait for Two-Bit and found the warm weather relaxing. Knowing that he'd have to wait two hours until Darry got home, the young greaser decided that when he got into the house, he'd read.

That's why it came as a surprise when Ponyboy found his two brothers sitting on the sofa watching television as he walked through the door.

"You two get off work early?" he asked, shutting the door behind him.

Of course, they didn't respond to him.

Ponyboy sighed and took a seat next to Soda, but almost cried when his brother shoved him harshly.

"You're grounded. Go to your room," Darry ordered, keeping his eyes on the television.

The youngest Curtis whined, which annoyed Darry even more. He took his eyes off the television and glared at his youngest brother.

"When I tell you to do something, you do it. Get to your room now!" the man yelled. Pony shot up and ran to his room, collapsing on the bed.

He started crying; why did his brothers hate him so much? He had apologized a countless number of times, and they still hated him!

Soon after the young greaser stopped crying, Sodapop came into his room. Ponyboy sat up and smiled; thinking Sodapop was coming to announce that he had forgiven his little brother, but unfortunately he didn't.

"Where's your old teddy bear? Darry thought it was about time to get rid of that piece of junk; you're not a baby, and we don't need it," Sodapop said firmly, looking around the room.

The blond found the teddy bear and was about to walk out the room, but he felt somebody pulling on his arm.

"No! Give him back," Ponyboy demanded, trying to reach for the teddy bear.

Sodapop was right; Ponyboy didn't need it. The young boy hardly ever slept with it anymore, but his mom gave it to him, so therefore it was precious.

"Forget it. It's _going_ in the trash," Sodapop responded sharply, attempting to walk out of the room again.

He stopped abruptly when he felt a kick to the back of his leg. The teenager turned around briskly, and glared at his little brother. Ponyboy just glared back at him and went to hit his brother, but Sodapop caught his arm.

A lamp got broke in the process when Sodapop tried to push Pony off him. Darry, who had heard the sound of glass breaking, came just in time to see his two brothers rolling around on the floor.

The man tugged Pony off of Soda and set him in-front of him. The young boy felt intimidated, considering the fact that Darry towered over him, and he didn't look in the slightest bit happy.

"I'm warning you, Ponyboy. I've had it up to here with you," he claimed, pointing to his head. "Pull something like this again, and you'll regret it."

"But I didn't start it," Ponyboy protested, shaking his head at his brother.

"I don't care," Darry snapped, beckoning Sodapop to follow him.

The teddy was still in Sodapop's hands, and Pony really didn't want them to get rid of it.

"I want Teddy back!" the boy shouted. He knew it sounded immature, but he wasn't going to lose something that his mother had gifted to him; it was too valuable to him.

Sodapop just scoffed and threw the teddy bear back at his brother. Ponyboy caught it and held to his chest; it was the only comfort that he could get at that moment.

 **XXX**

The next day was a lot like the day before.

Two-Bit had apologized to Ponyboy, but the auburn greaser just nodded and left, something out of character for him.

Johnny had healed up and was back in school, but when he laid eyes on his best friend he could already see that something was wrong.

"They hate me now, Johnny. I don't know what to do anymore," Ponyboy said at the lunch-table. He had explained to Johnny what had happened after he and his brothers had arrived home the day before. Johnny smiled sadly, feeling nothing but sympathy towards his best friend. He feared that this would happen.

"They don't hate you." Was all Johnny could think of. His response didn't change Ponyboy's thoughts in the slightest.

The tanned greaser stopped eating for a moment when he saw his friend's head tilt to the side and his eyes look at the ceiling, as if he was deep in thought. The teenager waited to see what his friend was thinking.

"I know! I'll make them a chocolate cake!" Pony announced excitedly, clasping his hands together in delight.

Johnny jerked his head back; this was not was he was expecting to hear. He didn't know what he expected to hear, but it definitely wasn't what Pony said.

"You'll make them a chocolate cake?" Johnny repeated just to be sure.

"Yup," Pony smiled, searching for his lunch money. The boy hadn't bought any lunch yet, but he didn't think he'd have enough money too. "I'll pay for it with this."

"Ponyboy, that's your lunch money. It's for your _lunch_ ," Johnny reminded his younger friend. "Won't Darry be angry if you skip out on lunch?"

"Darry doesn't care about me," Ponyboy snapped, biting his tongue.

Johnny decided to just leave the conversation there; he didn't want to rile his friend up. After all, it was Ponyboy's choice what he spent the money on.

After school, Ponyboy declined a ride from Two-Bit, and instead started walking in the opposite direction of his house. The closest grocery store that the Curtis's lived to was a five-minute walk away from Pony's school, which the young greaser was thankful for.

He entered the store, and started collecting the ingredients that he needed. He was happy that he'd brought some spare cash just in case he lost his lunch money; he had the exact amount to pay for his items.

Once he had paid, the boy started making his way back to his house. But a thought stopped him. When he and Soda had fought, Soda had said a few words that had really stung his heart.

 **XXX**

" _Next time to social worker comes over, I'll tell her that I'm unhappy here! You and Darry don't want me no more, do you?!" Ponyboy screamed at his brother._

 _The boy expected his brother to stop fighting with him, and to say he was sorry for ignoring his little brother. But Sodapop didn't._

" _You know what, Ponyboy? That is a great idea! I'll get Darry to say that he don't want you, and I'll say the same. Nobody wants you here!" he shouted back._

 _Ponyboy stopped, feeling a pain rise in his chest. Is that what his brothers thought of him?_

" _You don't mean that!" Ponyboy cried, wiping his nose._

" _You're clearly too good for us. After all, I'm just a dropout and Darry's just a deadbeat, while you're all smart," Sodapop laughed, shaking his head at the boy. "I really can't wait until you leave."_

 **XXX**

Maybe that's what he needed to do to: leave. His brothers would be better off without him; that's what Sodapop had implied.

No. He at least wanted to try and get them to forgive him. If the chocolate cake solution didn't work, then he would follow his older brother's advice and leave.

He was so caught up in thought, that he didn't even see Tim and Dallas in the latter's stolen car. The two were clearly drunk; Tim was shouting and Dallas was speeding his car as fast as he could.

Ponyboy stepped out into the road, but paused when he heard somebody shout him. The boy turned abruptly to see Dallas trying to stop the car but failing since his mind was too hazy.

The car came at full force at the young boy, and he was knocked to the ground. The bag containing his ingredients of the chocolate cake went flying and landed beside him, some of the items spilling out of the bag in the process.

The boy groaned; he couldn't feel his left ankle, and his head hurt a lot.

"Sodapop…Darry…" he called weakly.

Just like the previous night: they didn't come for him.

 **XXX**

"Hey guys, where's Pony?" Johnny asked Sodapop and Darry who were sitting on the sofa, talking.

"Who's that?" Darry asked, staring at his friend.

Johnny and Two-Bit groaned; so Ponyboy had been telling the truth: his brothers were ignoring him.

"Please guys – don't be mad at him no more. He made a mistake; he's a human, just like you guys. We all make mistakes," Two-Bit explained.

Sodapop and Darry merely shook their heads in response.

"He's gonna make you a chocolate cake; he wants you guys to forgive him," Johnny added, smiling slightly.

Darry laughed and shook his head again.

"What goods chocolate cake gonna do me?" he questioned the two greasers standing in-front of him.

"Yeah. That's just stupid," Sodapop commented, shrugging at Johnny.

The tanned greaser had had enough; why were they so angry with their little brother? Sure he had said some horrible things, and he was shocked when Pony had explained to him what had happened, but he didn't think his best friend deserved this treatment.

"You know what guys, I don't think you both know how lucky you actually are," Johnny expressed angrily. Darry and Sodapop looked up at the boy.

"Excuse me?" Darry said, clearly shocked.

"You can't just ignore him; you've gotta tell him what he's done wrong and then forgive him. Though by now he already knows what he's done wrong; since you two have been ignoring him since Monday. He even told me that you tried to get rid of his teddy bear which his mom gave him? Now I don't know what's it's like to have a good family, but I'll tell you that I'd much rather have my old man beating me up and my mom yelling at me than them ignoring me; at least I know that they know I'm there! But you've made Pony feel like you don't care about him, and it sounds to me that he's right!" Johnny ranted, taking a breath after he had finished his speech.

Two-Bit, Sodapop and Darry were all shocked at Johnny's outburst; the greaser had never looked so angry before. His speech made Sodapop and Darry rethink their actions however.

Everybody was interrupted by Steve running through the door, a terrified expression on his face.

"Ya'll gotta come quick; Ponyboy's been run over!" he exclaimed, running back out.

Nobody waited around; the other four greasers were out the door as quick as possible. They followed their black-haired friend, and came to a stop at their local grocery store.

Somebody was sitting at the road, holding Ponyboy. Darry and Sodapop both let out a cry before dropping beside the woman and their baby brother.

"He's our brother!" Sodapop said to her, and she nodded before handing Ponyboy over to Darry.

"Darry?" Ponyboy sighed, gazing tiredly into the male's blue eyes.

"Oh Pony…" Darry breathed, examining Ponyboy's bloody nose and bruised forehead.

The youngest Curtis let out a deep breath before slowly closing his eyes. He tried to ignore the loud sounds around him since a large crowd had formed around the brothers.

"No, no, no, Pony. Stay awake for us," Sodapop begged, beginning to tear up.

A siren started approaching the scene, making Steve, Two-Bit and Johnny breathe out a sigh of relief.

"Hear that, Pony? The ambulance is here," Darry smiled, his voice quivering slightly.

"Ambulance? Who's hurt?" Ponyboy asked quietly before closing his eyes and drifting off.

Darry shook his little brother, but nothing happened. His little brother was unconscious.

The paramedics took Ponyboy from Darry's arms and laid him on a stretcher, and then loaded the boy into the vehicle.

Sodapop fell in Darry's arms and began sobbing, but all's Darry did was rub his brother's back and whisper words of comfort to him; nobody knew whether Ponyboy would be okay or not.

Johnny frowned, but his attention was soon aimed at the items on the ground. He picked them up and searched through them; realizing that it was ingredients for chocolate cake.

He walked over to Darry and Sodapop who were holding onto each other tightly. He opened the bag, and showed them what was inside.

"What goods chocolate cake gonna do ya?" he asked, repeating what Darry had said before. "It must have been real important; after all, he _did_ get run over."

Darry covered his mouth, as did Soda; the two brothers felt sick now. But they didn't have time to be sick; they had to go to the hospital to see their baby brother.

 **AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is appreciate ;) Thank you to everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story; I can't thank you all enough :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

Ponyboy groaned, opening his eyes to a blinding light. The light was giving him a headache, and he didn't like it one bit.

In the distance, he saw fur. Only a little bit; it looked very soft and cuddly, reminding him of when he slept at night. But only when he slept alone; when he used his teddy bear as a reserve for when somebody wasn't there to cuddle him.

The light was starting to fade now; rather than a powerful painful white light, it was fading into a relaxing golden purple light, a lot like a sunset. The air also seemed to change; before it was thin, making Ponyboy feel like he was suffocating, but now it made him feel as if he was gently floating like a feather that had just fallen from an eagle's wing.

Looking straight ahead, Ponyboy noticed that the slightly furry object that he had laid eyes upon before was coming closer to him. He couldn't explain how weird it was; even though the object got closer and closer to him, he still couldn't figure out what it was. That was until he felt a soft hand brush over his knuckle; he knew who had just touched him: it was his mother.

But since this was just a dream, Ponyboy wasn't that bothered by the touch; his mother was just another person – she wasn't dead nor was she alive; she was in Ponyboy's mind, and so he didn't think it was strange when he saw the golden haired woman fade off into the sunset, away from him forever.

Ponyboy felt another touch, and when he looked down he saw his teddy bear staring back up at him. Again, since it was a dream, Ponyboy wasn't awestruck at the fact that his teddy bear was walking and talking like a human.

"So, what are you gonna do now?" the bear asked, tapping its foot on the ground which didn't exist; not in the normal world anyway.

The teddy bear's voice sounded a lot like Two-Bit Mathew's voice; it was deep but not very deep, with a heavy southern drawl to it.

"What do you mean?" Ponyboy questioned, picking the bear up and looking into its shiny black eyes.

"When you wake up, what are you gonna do?" the bear repeated in the same tone, showing no emotion on its fluffy face.

"Continue with life I guess," Ponyboy answered, looking around the world which he had created in his mind. "I'm gonna go explore this place."

He set the teddy bear down and started to walk on the bright emerald grass; before he had been standing on nothing, but after the bear had appeared next to him, the nothingness faded into a dark green river, and had since: merged into an endless field of emerald grass.

Everything in his world seemed endless, but because this world was in Ponyboy's mind, he knew that there must be so much more in his world; after all, his mind was endless, yet there was so much inside it; so much to be explored.

"Hey, what are you gonna do about your brothers?" the teddy shouted as Ponyboy began to stroll through the many apple trees that had grown while he had his conversation with his teddy bear. "Darry held you before you passed out; they must have forgiven you a little bit."

"Who's Darry?" Ponyboy called to the teddy bear, clear confusion evident in his small voice. He couldn't remember who Darry was; in his tranquilized daze the only things he had on his mind was his friend, who was a talking teddy bear, and the scene around him; which consisted of a golden purple sky, a field of emerald green grass (and the grass was literally everywhere!), a surrounding of apple trees and a small azure stream which glistened under the light orange descending sun.

Instead of getting an interactive answer, which Ponyboy was expecting, he was answered with silence. But it really was silence; there was no gust of wind, no birds chirping, no people speaking inaudibly – it was literally silent. So the boy turned around, but when he did, he was horrified.

His teddy bear, which he had named Teddy, was now actually showing emotion, but instead of a happy expression, the teddy wore an angry countenance, and it was scary. Its black eyes were now lit up in rage, and its thick arms started shaking like a serial killer waiting to murder his or hers next victim.

"…Teddy?" Ponyboy gulped, backing off even further.

"Darry does everything for us, and this is what you give him in return? You're real selfish, Ponyboy, you know that?" the teddy shouted, beginning to stomp towards Ponyboy. The teddy bear's voice had now changed to Sodapop's, and these were the exact words the teenager had yelled at Ponyboy when Ponyboy had been suspended.

Ponyboy swallowed, but he slipped on something and fell into the small azure stream, but the stream was now expanding into a river. The river formed into a sea, and the sea formed into an ocean. The water in the ocean began to whirl around, dragging Ponyboy down into the cold, dark aqua environment. As he slowly sunk to his fate, he passed many things; many things that he didn't understand.

They were memories: some were of his mom and dad, some were of Darry and Soda, some were of the gang, some were of him at school, him arguing with socs, him spending time with his grandparents when he was just a little boy…these visions passed by his green-gray eyes. He saw his teddy being passed into his arms by a beautiful woman with golden hair, and as he sunk lower, the face was revealed to be his mother's.

 _We're losing him!_

A low annoying sound continued to beep in Ponyboy's head. He wondered what it was, but at the same time, he wanted to concentrate on the memories that were passing through him.

Slowly, he started to remember everything; him getting in the fight at school, Darry and Soda arguing with him, him calling them names, Darry and Soda ignoring him, the chocolate cake, Dally and Tim hitting him with their stolen car, and eventually Darry holding him while he and Soda tried to keep Ponyboy awake. Ponyboy wanted to be in Darry's arms again, since the water and memories that were drowning him were very uncomfortable.

 _1…2…3!_

Numbers. Ponyboy didn't like to think about numbers since he didn't like doing math; whenever he couldn't get a question right, Darry would yell at him for not paying attention in class. It wasn't that he didn't pay attention; some things just passed through his mind, a little like the memories that were flowing through him while he sank lower in the ocean.

 _Wait, wait, we're getting something!_

Suddenly, Ponyboy was back on the emerald green grass, staring at the beautiful sky with eager eyes. His teddy was next to him, and it was smiling at him; which Ponyboy was happy to see since the teddy had either shown no emotion to him, or had been angry.

"You're an okay kid," the teddy said, its voice having now been changed to Steve Randle's.

"Yeah…" Ponyboy responded, watching as the world around him slowly began to disappear. The boy watched as the apple trees disappeared, leaving everything looking plain. _Sometimes it's only the little things which make a big difference_.

There was a large ocean to the left of the young greaser, but now it started decreasing in size until it just became a small azure stream. The stream soon merged into the grass, taking away some of the magic from the world.

Soon, the grass started fading, until eventually Ponyboy and his teddy bear were left sitting on nothing. The only thing that was left of this world was the golden purple sky, but even that was starting to vanish.

"Why's everything going?" Ponyboy asked the teddy bear, who was now standing up.

"Well it's not like you can stay here forever, unless you have a _valid_ reason. All good things must come to an end – I thought you would've known that by now," the teddy replied, his voice now very deep; it was a mixture between Dallas's and Darry's.

" _Where's_ everything going?" Ponyboy questioned, resting his chin on his hands, which were folded on his left knee.

The teddy bear didn't say anything, and instead pointed a finger at the center of Ponyboy's forehead. The teddy's paw briefly brushed against Ponyboy's forehead, but instead of feeling a rather rough furry touch from the teddy bear's paw, Ponyboy felt a soft palm touch his head, as if it were a person touching him and not a teddy bear.

He glanced up, and he could swear that for a second, the teddy bear had transformed into a beautiful golden woman who was very familiar to Ponyboy, but when he blinked he saw the teddy bear staring back at him again.

"C'mon little buddy, get those greenie-gray eyes open for me," the teddy smiled, holding his paw out to Pony.

Ponyboy held onto the paw, and even when the golden purple sky started to form into a blinding white light, Ponyboy didn't let go.

 **XXX**

"Your brother is awake; you can come and see him now," a black-haired nurse announced to Darrel and Sodapop Curtis.

The two greasers took no time in jumping up and rushing to their little brother's room; they had been there since the day before, and were desperate for him to wake up.

Ponyboy was sitting up in his hospital bed when his two older brothers came in and sat down on wooden chairs that were on either side of his bed. He remembered drowning in the ocean, and the memory of them ignoring him faded back into his mind. What if they hadn't forgiven him?

"Hey, little buddy," Soda started, resting his hand on Ponyboy's knee.

Since he was still wary about his surroundings, Ponyboy gently pushed Sodapop's hand off him. Sodapop and Darry took this as a sign that Ponyboy was mad at them, when in reality he was just confused and slightly scared.

"Come on, it's okay, we ain't mad at you no more," Darry soothed, pulling the blankets over Ponyboy in an attempt to comfort him.

"Where's Teddy?" Ponyboy asked, holding his arms out for his little friend. Darry and Sodapop looked at each other, wondering why Ponyboy had become reliant on something that he hadn't spent time with since his thirteenth birthday.

"Uh, he's at home," Sodapop answered, rubbing Ponyboy's back gently as he little greaser sighed.

"I wanna go home," the youngest Curtis whimpered, snuggling down in the scratchy bedsheets. He hated hospitals; their beds were nothing compared to his and Soda's bed at home. Well, now it was just Soda's bed, since Sodapop had forced him to move out of the room. "I guess you're mad now. Sorry for being stupid."

"No, that wasn't your fault," Darry said firmly, gripping onto Pony's shoulder. "We shouldn't have ignored you; you needed us and we just left you on your own."

Ponyboy nodded, agreeing with Darry. Sure he had messed up, but he knew that he wasn't the only guilty one; Darry and Soda had left him on his own while he was in need of them.

"Yeah, you did leave me," Ponyboy smiled, repeating Darry's words. "And I hope this means that you never do anything like this again. Sure, I messed up, but do you know how many hurtful things you say to me all the time? I never ignore you or Soda, and I just hope it never happens again."

Darry and Sodapop were speechless, but they both nodded in agreement; their baby brother was right.

And they would also make sure that nothing like this ever happened again; they almost lost their baby brother, and they weren't prepared to let that happen anytime soon.

After a few hours of the three Curtis brothers talking things over in the hospital, Steve Randle and Johnny cade walked into Ponyboy's hospital room.

"Johnny wanted to see you," Steve stated, as if he wasn't bothered. But then he added, "I'm glad you're okay, kid."

Ponyboy remembered the teddy bear, and how in Pony's dream the teddy had referred to him as 'kid' at one point, like Steve always did.

"Just telling you that your chocolate cake ingredients are okay," Johnny grinned, chuckling as Sodapop threw a paper cup at him. Ponyboy smiled, settling down against his pillow. He felt tired, but the color of the sky that was radiating through the window caught his attention.

It was golden purple, like in his dream, and the orange sun was beaming down on the grass, making it look like a thousand emeralds had been dropped from the evening sky. Steve pulled the curtains, shielding Ponyboy from the beautiful sky.

"I guess all good things must come to an end at some stage," he mumbled to himself, remembering Teddy had said something of the sort in his dream. But looking at Darry and Sodapop and the rest of the gang (Two-Bit and Dally had slipped in while Ponyboy was gazing out of the window) made him realize that _beautiful_ things always come to an end, but the _most_ beautiful and good things are the things that people see every day; such as family.

Darry, Sodapop and the rest of the gang realized that too – in their own ways of course.

 **XXX**

"Why is there never anything good to watch on Thursday nights?" Darry cursed, switching from channel to channel on the TV.

"Well it's Friday tomorrow, so at least we'll be okay then," Ponyboy laughed, giggling as Sodapop tickled him.

"Yeah, yeah," Darry smiled, settling on watching some programme that was aired in the previous decade.

The three brothers had apologized to each other; Darry and Sodapop had both apologized to their baby brother while Ponyboy had apologized to the two of them. They promised to look after Ponyboy properly now, which Ponyboy had been thrilled about, until they started coming up with rules that were just a little too 'overprotective' for Ponyboy's liking. Still, he'd promised himself that he'd take it until they reached an extreme limit, such as making him wear childish clothing, but he doubted they'd go that far…

"You know, I never did make you both that chocolate cake," Ponyboy declared as the credits for the show rolled up on the screen. Sodapop had fallen asleep with his head leaned on Ponyboy's shoulder; Ponyboy had been sitting on his lap, but was now being used as a pillow.

Little did Ponyboy know that Darry was still awake, and was shocked when the man spoke.

"Little man, you know what? You're even better than chocolate cake; you're my baby brother, and you and Soda will always come first," Darry smiled, reaching out to ruffle Ponyboy's hair.

"You...got that right," Sodapop mumbled into Ponyboy's shoulder, fixing the boy into a more comfortable position. "You're even better than chocolate cake."

"Ditto to both of you," Ponyboy chuckled, but he did mean it.

Sometimes, you might think that chocolate cake is rarer than your family, because you see your family all the time while chocolate cake may only come once in a while. But when somebody goes in your family, they're gone for good, while chocolate cake will be there forever; no matter what happens, you'll always be able to restock your chocolate cake.

"And really, who needs chocolate cake while you've got family?" Sodapop asked both of his brothers, who glanced at him before jumping up.

"I don't know; I'm pretty hungry!" Ponyboy laughed, racing into the kitchen.

""Hey, I wanna die the chocolate cake!"

"Over my dead body, Sodapop Patrick Curtis!"

"Oh Darry! Soda spilt flour all over the floor!"

"I did not; it was Pony, Darry!"

"Clean it up!"

Don't get them wrong; they'd always love chocolate cake. But they'd always love each other more.

 **AN: So that's the end of this short story. I really hoped you enjoyed it :) Also, I think the dream turned out quite well – please tell what you think! I haven't really written anything like that before, so I'd like to see your opinions on it :) Hope you enjoyed the ending, and thanks to everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story; I can't thank you all enough :D**


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